Powerful changes are impacting traditional systems of research publication, academic credit, research quality assessment, and the meaning of “publication.” At the same time, traditional publishing models continue to shape how scholars produce and exchange knowledge. Understanding the scholarly communication system and its balance between transformation and continuity is a key goal for science and technology studies, as publishing practices affect scholars and scientists across all fields and levels. These changes also frame the policies of administrators evaluating and funding them, and of libraries confronting new technologies. The increasing scale and interdisciplinary nature of collaborations, as well as the growing reliance on cyberinfrastructures for producing and disseminating research, are central transformations that require a critical, theoretically oriented approach that encompasses the significance of these trends beyond communication.

The panel turns to different perspectives, such as STS, law, history, ethnography or media studies, to shed light on how scholarly communication systems evolve and interact with broader socio-political transformations. Indeed, we believe that the transformation we point out is posing epistemological and sociological questions about the place of scientific knowledge in contemporary societies. We are particularly interested in papers including, but not limited to, the following sub-topics: the interplay between old and new models of scholarly communication; the impact of Open Access models; the transformation of data from research results to research output itself; new metrics of impact; new forms of misconduct including metrics-based misconduct; the impact of English as the lingua franca of global science; doubts about peer review as quality guarantor; the impact of intellectual property on the content and timing of publications; disciplinary and geographical differences; scholarly norms and incentives that shape scientific institutions and their communication practices. Through this panel we aim to discuss and strengthen a critical research agenda that could inform university policy change for scholarly communication.